BMTV

Derren Brown would be proud

October 22, 2007

Anyone else thinking there some kind of Derren Brown-esque trickery going on in the X Factor this year?Rhiddion: “Oh well, I just HOPE I get through next week.”Alisha: [singing] “You know YOU GOTTA HAVE HOPE, you know you gotta be stroooonnnggg!”Same Difference: “We just HOPE the public like us.”

Even Dermot was at it: “Our 12 finalists, all HOPING to secure your vote.”

No wonder the Pussy Cat Doll-wannabes sailed through. Subliminal messaging, see? Shame Kimberly left. I liked her. She was like the Beth Ditto of the X Cacktor. A bit chubby, a bit crazy, honest and lovable. Hated what they did to her though. All white, white skin, red lips, yellow hair and god-awful clothes (what was that lipstick stuck to her front all about, eh?).

Absolutely loving Same Difference. Yes, I know an old cynic like me should, by rights, hate their chirpy, energy. But I can’t fight it. They’re like The Carpenters on E (in a good way) and I’m loving them. And Simon’s right: High School Musical is HUGE at the moment. Stick it on anything and it sells. Fast. He’s a canny one, is that Cowell.

Emily was a let down. For all the sob stories and “In the arms of the angels” backing tracks (I swear if they’d played it one more time, I’d’ve killed someone) she didn’t step up on Saturday. Of course, it wasn’t entirely her fault. She was given a song to sing that was massive the year she was born (or maybe even long before), she was wearing clothes that made her look like a plastic Artful Dodger and it didn’t help that she’d been hailed as the embodiment of Simon’s defense for letting 14 year olds into the comp. She buckled under the pressure. Simon was right, you have to treat all finalists the same, no matter their age – the industry sure isn’t going to make allowances for youth (look at Britney). But then, that’s a reason not to have them in the comp in the first place…

Of the others, no one is particularly standing out. Simon complained that we didn’t ‘know’ some of the contestants. That’s probably because they’ve remained dignified enough not to go spilling all their secrets and airing their dirty laundry in public. Hey, if we’re going to be watching these people for the next two and a half months (oh lordy) then I’d rather get to know them over time. Not have everything in my face from the get go. It’s called seduction. And Cowell (thank god) knows bugger all about that. I HOPE.